More than half of private sector clerks included in a survey to inform a possible coronavirus-driven award variation have been working from home since the middle of last year and almost three quarters of employers intend to let them continue doing so at least some of the time.
McDonald's, the sole corporation to make a submission to the Omnibus Bill inquiry, is calling for substantial amendments to casual conversion provisions and the BOOT, indicating the legislation's changes to the latter are insufficient to renew its interest in enterprise bargaining.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation says the Morrison Government's Omnibus IR Bill is "sadly lacking" on a range of key measures, including proposed changes to casual employment and the Better Off Overall Test.
Ahead of its appearance today before the Senate inquiry into the Omnibus IR Bill, the Centre for Future Work has warned that as Australia experiences an unprecedented period of low pay growth, the legislation's changes "will exert additional downward pressure".
The Morrison Government's plan to allow the FWC to approve agreements that fail the BOOT to help employers hit by the coronanvirus would "tear a gaping hole" in the award safety net, according to a group of leading labour law experts.
The FWC has warned the Morrison Government that its legislative plan to set a 21-day deadline for approval of enterprise agreements is "unnecessary and will have unintended consequences that are contrary to the interests of the bargaining parties".
The FWC has upbraided construction company Hansen Yuncken for its "callous" and unfair sacking of a "naïve" trainee who nonetheless provided it with a valid reason by insisting on indefinite unpaid leave to avoid lengthy public transport commutes during COVID-19.
Ahead of hearings in Townsville on Monday into the Omnibus Bill, Victoria's Andrews Government has described the legislation as a "lost opportunity", while WA's McGowan Government has urged the Morrison Government to abandon its provision to permit approval of short-term substandard agreements.
